Circular-knitting machine.



H. E. Hous'EMAN..

CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION HLED :uns 16. 191s.

1,204,444.. Patentd Nov. 14,l 1916.

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HAROLD E. IIoUsEMAN, or PHILADELPHIA,PnNNsYLvANIA, AssIGNON 'ro STANDARDMACHINE COMPANY, or PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION orPENNSYLVANIA.

CIRCULAR-KNITTING MACHINE.

Speccaton of Letters Patent.

Patienten. Nev. 14, 191e.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, HAROLD E. HOUSE- MAN, acitizen of the United States, residing at Philadelphia, county ofPhiladelphia, and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Circular-Knitting Machines, of which the following is afull, clear, and exact description, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification.

Needles employed in circular knitting machines are vertically slidablein slots or grooves cut in the needle cylinder. The needles are made ofa thickness slightly less than the width of the grooves, so that, if theneedles were perfectly straight, they would slide therein freely.However, in the knitting operation, the needles are moved up and down bymeans of cams and, on the revoluble needle cylinder type of machine, bypickers, and it is necessary that the needles shall remain at thelevelto which they are raised when they pass beyond the influence of thedevices which so raise them. Accordingly, it is customaryrto bend theneedles somewhat so that, when inserted in the needle cylinder slots,.they shall bear with some degree of vfriction against the wallsthereof. The degree of frictional en-` gagement must be suflicient toinsure the needles remaining at any level without liability to drop bygravity aided by the jars and vibrations to which such machines areinevitably subject, but at the same time the frictional engagement mustnot be so great as to impose too much strain upon the cams. This vbending operation is applied to the needles by the manufacturers, andinasmuch as each needle must be carefully and skilfully bent separately,and inasmuch as several hundred needles are required to equip a singlecylinder, it is obvious that the operation involves a serious additionto the cost of manufacture. Unfortunately, however, the variation in thetemper of different needles is so great that the mill operator finds itnecessary, before applying Vthev needles to the cylinder, to carefullytest the individual needles and rebend them more or less so that theywill have the required uniform and approximately exact degree ofvfrictional contact with the walls of their slots that is necessary toproduce smooth and satisfactory operation.' Thisvwork still further addsto the equipment cest, Notwithstanding this careful and tedious work, itis found practically impossible to attain any fair approximation toideal results. If the needles vengagethewalls of their grooves with toogreatja degree of friction they impose so great 'a strain upon the camsthat the latter' speedily wear out; whereas if the needles slip toofreely in their grooves, they eventually slide up and down so looselythat sooner or later they drop in their slots during the operation ofthe machine, and striking the solid face of acam, are broken, withresultantdanger of injury to other needles and the delicate mechanismfor actuating them, as well as the loss of time and production involvedin the work of replacement and repair.

The object of my invention is to dispense with the necessity ofhand-bending the needles, thereby greatly simplifying and cheapeningboth their manufacture and their application to the needle cylinder.

A further object of the invention is to pro.- vide means wherebythefrictional engagement of the needles with the walls of their slots maybe effected after the needles have been applied to the cylinder.

'A further object of the invention is to Aprovide means whereby suchfrictional engagement may be accurately adjusted and regulated. p

Another object of the invention is to ap iplythis adjustable friction toall the needles Vsimultaneously and by a single simple operation.

yAnother object of the invention is to provide means whereby the .degreeof this frictional engagement will no-t tend to diminish Fig. '3 is anenlarged explanatory view,

showing the action of my invention upon the needles. l

The needle cylinder a; has the usual radial slots or gresves Z1 in whichslide the needles' VC, actuated by cams mounted on the stationplate ghaving radial grooves cut in its under face for the fingers L. Theselingers fit tightly enough in said slots to remain in any position inwhich they are placed. A groove z' is cut in the outer wall of thecylinder, deeper than slots Z), and into which the ends of the fingersproject without touching. The ends of fingers h enter between theneedles, similarly to the Vsinkers, and they are equally spaced, andequal in number to the needles.

Below plate g and fingers z, a disk y' surrounds the cylinder and isattached thereto. This is for the purpose of supporting the looselymounted plate g. A lug 7c projects from the hub of sinker head e, andthere is a projection Z upon plate g, circumferentially in line with lug.70. A set screw is threaded through projection Z and abuts against lug7:, in such manner that by screw ing the set screw plate g may be turnedrelatively to the needle cylinder. This turning will bring the fingers Lagainst one side of the needles e, and a further turn of the set screwwill bring a certain side pressure to bear upon each needle by itscorresponding finger. This presses the needles to one side of theirslots, and gives them a certain bend as indicated in Fig. 3. rlhe degreeof this side pressure upon the needles may be nicely determined andadjusted by set screw m, and the needles thereby given the amount ofbend necessary to hold them in their slots with the required amount offriction. In this way perfectly straight needles are used in themachine. This means cheaper needles, for they will not have to gothrough the final bending operation, as heretofore, by the manufacturerand operator.

Instead of .having needles of various degrees of frictional contact, dueto the individual bending of each needle separately, the turning ofplate g presses the end of the finger 7L against the needles c with anequal and uniform pressure, which may be made greater or less, asdesired. Thus plate g, while loose upon the cylinder, is confinedbetween lug la and set screw m on theone side andthe contact of thefingers on `the needles on the other side, and held as rigidly in theposition set as if it were attached to the cylinder. v

I-Iaving now fully described my invention, what I claim and desire toVprotect 'by Letters Patent is l. In a. circularknitting machine, incombination, a needle cylinder provided with grooves in which theneedles are adapted to slide vertically, Vand devices adapted to extendbetween the needles between the upper and lower ends of their supportinggrooves and by sidewise engagement with the needles hold them fromdropping in their grooves.

2. In a circular knitting machine, in combination, a needle cylinderprovided with grooves in which the needles are adapted to slidevertically, devices adapted to engage t-he respective needles betweenthe upper and lower ends of their supporting grooves, and means commonto all of said devices to simultaneously vary the degree of frictionalpressure imposed upon the needles.

3. In a circular knitting machine, in combination, a needle cylinderprovided with grooves in which needles are adaptedv to slide vertically,fingers adapted to project between adjacent needles and engage therespective needles between the upper and lower ends of their supportinggrooves and normally maintain them in frictional contact with the wallsof their grooves, and means common to all the fingers to manipulate themto regulate the degree of said frictional contact.

l. In a circular knitting' machine, in conibination, a needle cylinderprovided with grooves in which the needles are adapted to slidevertically, means carried by the needle cylinder adapted to engage therespective needles and frictionally hold them from dropping in theirgrooves, and manually adjustable mechanism to hold said means with aregulatable degree of pressure against the needles in fixed relation tothe needle cylinder during the operation of the machine.

5. In a circular knitting machine, in combination, a needle cylinderprovided with grooves in which the needles are adapted to slidevertically, an integral ring surrounding the needle cylinder, devicescarried thereby adapted to engage the respective needles throughout theentire circumference of the needle cylinder, and manually adjustablemeans to hold said devices with a regulatable degree of pressure againstthe needles in fixed relation to the `needle cylinder during theoperation of the machine.

6. In a circular knitting machine, in combination, a needle cylinderprovided with grooves in which the needles are adapted to slidevertically, the walls of the grooves be ing cut away vto form acontinuous open space of limited height `extending circumferentiallyaround the cylinder, and radially extending fingers supported from theneedle cylinder and extending into said open space between 7needles andadapted to frictionally engage the needles to hold them from dropping 1ntheir grooves.

7. Ina circular knitting machine, in combination, a needle cylinderlprovided with ICO grooves in which the needles are adapted to slidevertically, the walls of the grooves betending fingers carried by thering and ex! tending into said open space, and members, one carried bythe ring and the other by the needle cylinder arranged to abut oneagainst the other and thereby hold the ngers pressed against theneedles.

8. In a circular knitting machine, in combination, a needle cylinderprovided with grooves in which the needles are adapted to slidevertically, the walls of the grooves being cut away to form a continuousopen space of limited height extending circumferentially around thecylinder, a ring surrounding the needle cylinder, radially extendingfingers carried by the ring and extending into said open space, andmeans to turn and hold said'ring in position to cause the fingerscarried thereby to press said needles against the walls of theirgrooves.

9. In a circular knitting machine, in combination, a needle cylinderprovided with grooves in which the needles a-re adapted to slidevertically, the walls of the grooves being cut away to form a continuousopen space of limited height extending circumfcrentially around thecylinder, an annular member surrounding the needle cylinder and fixedrelatively thereto, a ring also surrounding the needle cylinder,radially extending fingers carried by the ring and adapted to extendinto said open space between needles, and means to adjust the ringcircumferentially relative to said annular member, thereby causing saidfingers to engage the respective needles and press' them against thewalls of the grooves to regulate the degree of frictional engagementbetween the needles and the needle cylinder.

10. In a circular knitting machine, in combination, a needle cylinderprovided with grooves in which needles are adapted to slide vertically,the walls of the grooves being cut away to form a continuous open spaceof limited height extending circumerentially around the cylinder, a.sinker head and a ring surrounding the needle cylinder and fixedrelatively thereto and spaced apart, a ring surrounding the needlecylin* der and located between the sinker head and the iixed ring andsupported by the latter, the second ring being slotted in a radialdirection, radially extending lingers in the slots of the second ringextending into said open space between adjacent needles, a lug on thesinker head, a. lug on the second ring, and a screw thread in one lugand engaging the other lug whereby the second ring may be adjustedcircumferentially relatively to the sinker head.

In testimony of which invention, I have hereunto set my hand, atPhiladelphia, on this 15th day of June, 1916.

HAROLD E. IIOUSEMAN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D C.

